Women, It's "Your Turn" to Reach Your Fitness Goals

In an effort to help women reach their fitness and health enrichment goals, a group of women in Kalamazoo, Michigan founded Your Turn, a nonprofit organization whose aim is to help women get fit and healthy by teaming them with workout buddies and providing financial support to those who can't afford things like race fees or exercise equipment.

"Your Turn was created in the fall of 2011 when me and Dawn Marciniak found ourselves looking at each other in the locker room of our local YMCA saying, 'This is what I want to do,'" said co-founder Melodie Holman. The two women teamed up with two other women and later that year, ran the Kalamazoo Marathon -- their first ever.
Holman said that they experienced firsthand the power of women working together toward health and fitness goals and decided to build an organization that supports those goals. A local running store signed on as a supporter, and helped spread the word about the group. Many members begin their journey to fitness by competing in a "Couch to 5K" run.
"We really reach out to women who can't afford to do this, and provide running shoes, race fees or help toward any goal," said volunteer Kristie Abruzzo. "We'll get you the financial support you need to swim, walk, bike, etc. The key to getting women moving, taking cooking classes, nutrition, and mental health, usually just starts by getting moving. Health and wellness tends to improve once you've got regular movement."

Abruzzo said that there are currently 700 women on their email chain, who break into groups of no more than 12, with about three or four different groups going on at one time.

"If you want to do this, here's how you do it: you get past the first thing by inviting another woman to take a class, or even just a walk," said Abruzzo. "These women who connect keep those connections. We have gatherings every few months and people come and go, they may continue and do a 10K... but we hope these connections will be lifelong."

Sticking With That Resolution to Change

"Usually it's just the same old shit: your resolution is down the toilet in the first three weeks, and you just can't seem to make those changes stick," said Abruzzo.

But with the help of Your Turn, this year can be different. Women can take the pledge to be healthy, and request a free copy of the book "Your Turn: Women Supporting Women for Health and Wellness" to read about how to support one another in health and wellness. Each booklet is slightly different, and Abruzzo said the next one would include testimonials from members.

One such anecdote that Holman shared was the story of Katie, a lesbian member who has been with Your Turn for the past year. Holman said that she began walking regularly to become fit enough to train for a 5K this April. She has since run the race, joined a gym and hired a personal trainer. In the past 10 weeks, Holman said Katie has lost 14.6 lbs and 8.5 inches, and is "moving in a direction that she feels is empowering, which transfers over to all areas of her life."

"Nationally, we encourage women to take the pledge, because what we've learned is that if you have a health enrichment goal and are having a hard time making it happen, if you support another woman in her goal, your chances of completing yours go up exponentially," said Abruzzo, who helped write the book. "It turns the resolution thing on its head if you support someone else."

In Michigan, they are already seeing an impact on health, not just among women, but among families. As Harmon says, "the women tend to lead the family in a health direction. When I got fat, my family got fat. When I got fit, I stopped letting my family get fat. I've got three boys and three teens, and educating them about food, movement and health was a huge push for my family."

Holman said that it is much harder to commit to a fitness and workout plan without a little help. With a workout buddy, you are more likely to set goals for personal health and wellness, improved nutrition or even mental health through meditation and yoga.

"We grieve the statistics about obesity around the world -- it hits us right in our gut because we know the struggles first hand. But our grief has the hope of women and mothers who can turn this crisis around. We know this with every fiber of our 'evolving to health and wellness' minds and bodies," said Holman.

Your Turn is a program that anyone can do, regardless of where they live, and the Kalamazoo team is happy to help you set it up in your community. It's better to have at least two people for starters, to help pull together a little community of women supporting women for health and wellness.

If you want to be a member, then you're a member, said the women. You support Your Turn when you support another woman toward her health and fitness goal, or when you give of your specific talent to help keep the organization running.

Your Turn is free to join and has no fees, although founders do appreciate a $5 donation from those women able to afford it during their fall and spring pledge drives.

"We know that sometimes women just need that support to get started, and we want them to spread the word, take the pledge, follow our blog and start working toward their health enrichment goals," said Abruzzo.